Technology is like quicksilver; it's hard to predict when it completely changes. The minute you buy a piece of equipment, something bigger and better comes along, and you're forced to upgrade.
And nowhere does this statement hold truer than in the home entertainment segment, where the TV screens are getting wider and DVDs capable of everything short of actually watching a movie for you.
The battle over the benefits of HD DVD versus the Blue-Ray DVD formats is going on among manufacturers and it's just a matter of time before the debate comes to the Middle East, too.
Meanwhile, the consumer is spoilt for choice at the number of new products in the home entertainment segment in the UAE. "Since the world is experiencing an exponential growth in the LCD TV business, LCD TVs and DVD video cams are the latest offering from Samsung," says Indraneel Mitra of Samsung.
High-end models
New products such as high-end plasma and LCD TVs have caught the fancy of consumers. Case in point is the new Hitachi plasma and LCD TV with mega-pixel resolution, high definition picture quality, twin HDMI inputs, USB connectivity, SD card slot, 68.6 billion colours and a table-top stand that can be rotated by a remote control for the right angle.
"The next big thing to hit the consumer electronics market will be high definition DVD players that will bring a sea change in the quality of picture as it moves to high definition level," says Rajat Asthana of Eros Group.
C.H. Lee, President, LG Gulf FZE, says, "LG has a 25 per cent market share for PDPs in the UAE and the Gulf. Our plasma TV sales grew 50 per cent in the Gulf last year, and the LCD TV sales shot up 200 per cent."
LG's DVR PDP's built-in 80GB DVR can store up to 30 hours of digital standard-definition programming. And it's a gizmo that the advertisement world must be crying over - it can block out unwanted commercials apart from pausing and replaying TV just minutes after the original broadcast.
Panasonic is also offering new-age DVD players. "The DVD-S52 is equipped with a feature that allows it to upgrade the data of the standard definition DVD disc to high-definition signal - showing 720P or 1080i lines, so that one can enjoy the full capability of a high definition TV," says Shoukat Hussain of Al Futtaim.
Panasonic DVD recorders - DMR-ES15, DMR-ES30 (DVD recorder and VCP combo), DMR-EH50 (80GB HDD) and DMR-EH60 (200GB HDD) - all have the following high-tech features. "You can watch a show, while recording another; enjoy instant replay while recording and the Panasonic RAM Recorder takes just one second to start recording after being switched on," says Hussain.
New range
Sony Gulf FZE recently unveiled a range of seven flat panel LCD TV sets. These new-generation LCD televisions have been introduced under the brand, BRAVIA (best resolution audio visual integrated architecture).
"The new-generation LCD panels enable large screen size LCD televisions and offer significantly higher picture resolution and superior brightness required for higher quality image reproduction as compared to plasma televisions," says Masaru Tamagawa, Managing Director, Sony Gulf FZE.
These plasma television sets have panel sizes ranging from 17-inches to 40-inches. Sony's latest offering, the V-series and S-series television sets deliver a sharper digital high definition picture with 1366x768 dot pixels, which is equivalent to one mega-pixel resolution.
According to Ashish Punjabi, CEO, Jacky's, consumers have a lot to look forward to in the home entertainment segment. "Eighth generation LCD TVs will be launched in 2007 by Samsung, and LG is unveiling its 50" Plasma TV with built-in HDD (80GB) shortly."
Nikai has introduced a unique personal media player which is a portable DVD player with a 3.5" LCD screen and can play formats such as DivX, MPEG4, DVD, VCD, SVCD, JPEG, MP3, WMA and DVD audio from different kinds of data sources such as DVD, USB drive, SD, multimedia cards and memory stick.
"We always believe in giving the customer the latest and best in technology," says Paras Shahdadpuri, Chairman, Nikai.
Philips' new Modea HTS8000S home theatre system integrates the SonoWave speaker system for real multi-channel sound, with a multi-format DVD player and progressive scan for flicker-free images.
Philips' DVD recorder, the DVDR3370 H, makes it easy to record video and TV content and thanks to the 250 GB capacity, you can get a recording of more than 318 hours of DVD-quality videos onto one storage place.
